The 2011 Lavazza Calendar has been created by Armando Testa and has gone all sexy and lovey-dovey for the new year. It is an annual publication which celebrates Italy’s most famous coffee brand. Love is the theme for 2011 where we see angels and modern-day Romeos and their Juliets in backdrops including Florence, Verona and Venice - some of Italy’s most romantic cities. I’m particularly taken with the cheeky angel sipping a cup. If you want to see the Lavazza Calendar backstage video, check out the Espresso online.

Continue reading: 2011 Lavazza Calendar: love and coffee in Italy

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Okay, so we’ve got Italian gelato, and if you’re in the know there is also the granita which is a flavoured ice drink. And then there’s grattachecca. It’s also a flavoured ice drink but from a slightly different tradition. The name ‘checca’ comes from the Roman tradition of the drink, and the ‘gratta’ part means to grate. And if you’re living out a hot summer in Italy at the moment, you might be on the lookout for one of these.

The traditional method of making granita is that a water and syrup or juice mix is first made up and then set to freeze. The grattachecca on the other hand is grated ice to a consistency like snow, to which syrup is then added. It’s considered one of Rome’s old summer traditions and the oldest dates back sometime to the 19th century.

While the drink itself is famous, it’s Rome various kiosks that have created the fame. Perhaps the most reknowned of these is “La Fonte d’Oro” on the Lungotevere Sanzio. It’s been open since 1913 and the goodness of its grattachecche gets a little shine from its elderly status among Rome’s kiosks. A few minutes from La Fonte d’Oro is “Sòra Mirella” open since 1915. The last among Rome’s old kiosks is the Sòra Maria, open in via Trionfale since 1933. Check them all out both for their grattachecche and their historic atmosphere.

Source | 06blog.it

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This wonderful Italian picture shows just how much the Italians take their coffee seriously. The owner of this bike is using a little gas burner to make his Moka coffee off the back of his Moto Guzzi Stelvio bike. What’s more, the gas burner looks like a custom fit for the bike’s rear end - could Moto Guzzi be going into the motorcycle coffee accessory business?

Source | Motoblog.it

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The famous Italian brand of Bialetti, the little man with the moustache who makes coffee in a staggeringly huge percentage of Italian homes, will no longer be a ‘made in Italy‘ brand. Production of the Moka Express, the ubiquitous stove-top coffee maker, will move from its traditional Omegna plant in Piedmont, to Eastern Europe.

Alfonso Bialetti invented the Moka Express back in 1933 after analysing the technology of washing machines of the time that drew water up through a tube and then squirted it out over the washing. The Moka Express follows the same principle, with water being heated in the base of the pot, that then gets extracted up through a coffee filter and into the top side container.

The Moka Express revolutionised Italian coffee, making it available in the home and not just in bars (although the Italians still love the social aspect of ordering their coffee out). The symbol of the man with the moustache was created by Paul Campani in the 1950’s, after Alfonso’s son had managed a successful marketing campaign in the late 1940’s at the annual Fiera di Milano.

While statistics are hard to produce, it is estimated that about 330 million Moka Express coffee pots have been made over the years. It is hard to underestimate its presence in the domestic environment - used for everything from after dinner coffee to your Mum’s homemade tiramisù, the Bialetti Moka Express with the moustache is now moving overseas.

Source | ItalyMag

Photo | Flickr

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As you may guess from Italy’s classic “Margherita” pizza with tomato, cheese and oregano (or basil), supreme and Hawaiian pizza varieties do not exist on native soil. Neither does cabanossi o pepperoni, and while Italians are getting more adventurous with their pizza, (try gorgonzola with pear, for example), there are a few traditional pizza toppings you should try when in Italy.

The margherita pizza may be boring, but it is one of the few I can actually finish when doing the Italian thing and ordering a pizza per person. The classic marinara is also on the slim side of pizza offerings, with tomato, mozzarella, garlic and sometimes a drizzling of olive oil. Pizza al prosciutto is ham pizza and you can choose either “prosciutto cotto” (leg ham), or “prosciutto crudo” which is parma ham. This can be quite salty, so you’ll want some water on the table.

Another very salty option, but one which you’ll find has only the most dedicated fans is pizza alla napoletana (or romana). This has the classic tomato and cheese base, but with anchovies. The closest you’ll get to a supreme is the “capricciosa” meaning “capricious” or undecided. Please note that this does NOT have peppers on the top, but you do get ham, mushrooms, and artichokes. The “quattro stagioni” or four seasons is the same sort of thing, but divided so that each quarter of your pizza houses one of the flavours.

Continue reading: Real Italian pizza toppings: it's a regional thing

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A bar in Naples is serving up a new take on Italian coffee, called the “caffé al bacio”. “Bacio” means ‘kiss’ in Italian, and much like the bacio gelato flavour, this involves using Italy’s premier hazelnut spread, Nutella.

The caffé al bacio uses a brandy glass with the inside coated in nutella, adding a shot of espresso coffee and some milk foam on the top, sprinkled with cocoa. It’s an even more elaborate version of the “marocchino” coffee, which is a bit like our mocha combining chocolate and coffee.

You can find the caffe al bacio at the Intra Moenia bookstore-coffee shop in Piazza Bellini, Naples. According to Italian Notebook, the bar is just down from the music conservatory so that sometimes you’re treated to a free musical concert in the form of practicing notes of music drifting down the street.

Source | ItalianNotebook.com

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Here’s a recipe for homemade Italian hot chocolate, so you can enjoy traditional Italian-style “cioccolata” at home. Contrary to Neenah’s comment on our first post about Italian hot chocolate, one made at a bar is always made with milk and nearly always with powder, often cocoa powder to make a stronger hot chocolate. You’ll find it’s sometimes bitter and therefore you’ll need to add sugar after it’s been served.

This Italian recipe is in English, and is a step by step video guide that’s easy to follow. The ingredients include cocoa powder, sugar, flour, and milk. The more flour you add, the thicker the hot chocolate will be, and if you add lots, you can even make yourself a chocolate pudding. You can continuously add milk, until you get the consistency you want, and then the final step is to bring it to the boil over the stove.

Source | ItalyMag

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Snow in Italy is finally here, marking the definitive arrival of winter and the ski season, especially for this long weekend. So if you find yourself on the slopes of Italy’s ski resorts, or shopping in the Christmas markets of Bolzano in Alto Adige, you’ll be looking for something to warm you up after a day out in the cold.

Here, we give you a list of the best Italian drinks for a moment spent by the fireside warming your feet. Our only recommendation is you go easy on the drinks because they’re normally very potent. Otherwise, check out our post on how not to get drunk on Italian cocktails in case you need some tips.

First on the list is one of my absolute favourites and that’s a bombardino. This is Italy’s version of eggnog, made with brandy and advocaat (Vov in Italy). If you like it sweeter, you’d best ask for only a small part of brandy or you’re in for a shock. The brandy and advocaat is mixed together, and then heated to boiling point via a steamer, and to top it off, you can add whipped cream which I recommend to sweeten the drink a little and remove the possibility of burning your mouth on your first sip.

Continue reading: Best Italian Christmas drinks: mulled wine and bombardino

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The new 2010 Lavazza Calendar has been presented in Turin, dedicated to an international icon in Italian coffee. This year the calendar features top models, including Italian model Bianca Balti, and also Georgia Frost, Lydia Hearst, Daisy Lowe, Alexandra Tomlinson and Alek Alexeyeva.

Famous Italian songs such as Nessun Dorma from Turandot, O Sole Mio, Guarda Che Luna and others are featured. English photographer Miles Aldridge produced seven photographs for the calendar, with creative management done by the Armando Testa studio. The calendar is called “The Italian Espresso Experience” 2010 and combines the best in Italian fashion and coffee culture.

2010 Lavazza Calendar

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Giselle Bunchen and Paul Sculfor have been chosen by Donatella Versace to star in her new ad campaign for autumn-winter 2009/10; photograhed by talented Mario Testino, the two models look stylish and drop dead gorgeous! Take a look at our photo gallery!

Paul Sculfor and Gisele Bunchen Versace ad campaign a/w 2009-10

Continue reading: Paul Sculfor and Gisele Bunchen Versace ad campaign autumn-winter 2009/10

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